High School Will Big Stars Turn Into Red Supergiants or Red Giants?

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SUMMARY

Big stars evolve into red supergiants without necessarily passing through a red giant phase. The distinction between medium and large stars is critical, as medium-sized stars do transition into red giants. The discussion emphasizes the importance of understanding stellar evolution quantitatively, referencing diagrams such as the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram to illustrate these processes. However, the standard diagram does not provide historical data on star evolution, which is essential for a comprehensive understanding.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of stellar evolution concepts
  • Familiarity with the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
  • Knowledge of star classification (red giants vs. red supergiants)
  • Basic astrophysics terminology
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the differences between red giants and red supergiants in stellar evolution
  • Study the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram and its implications for star classification
  • Explore quantitative models of stellar evolution
  • Investigate additional resources on the lifecycle of stars, including historical data representation
USEFUL FOR

Astronomy students, astrophysicists, and anyone interested in the lifecycle of stars and stellar classification will benefit from this discussion.

Odette
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Hey.
Medium sized stars will turn into red giants.
What about big sized stars? As far as I know they will turn into red SUPERgiants. But, will they pass through a red giant phase before it happens?
In conclusion, will a big star turn firstly into a red giant and secondly into a red supergiant, or will it turn only into a red supergiant?
 
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There are whole books on this. They tend to be more quantitative than just "big" and "medium". Also, they and you probably disagree on how big is "medium" - the most common kind of star, red dwarfs, don't always become red giants, and the threshold is right about at the average star mass.
 
Last edited:
jim mcnamara said:
Look at this diagram, it shows how stars evolve over time, depending on the "starting" mass of the star
http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/H/Hertzsprung-Russell+Diagram
No, it does not.
It shows only the present appearance of star, aand gives no information of its history, or mass.
Some versions of this graph add paths to depict star history - but no such are added to the version in the link above.
 
@snorkack
Does the explanation not help? Please post what you think is more explanatory. That would be by far more useful to everyone ...than debating what I linked to. Thanks in advance for for your help.
 

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